Multiforce RP: "Washington Robbed Blind!"
Prologue The sun has long since fallen over the horizon. The peaceful silence of the night left undisturbed ...Save the occasional soft chirping of some crickets, or the gentle breeze stirring up the dark turf under toe. From here one has the perfect view of the city lights off in the horizon. Flickering from time to time like a candlelight. Yes, all was quiet in those grassy fields. Until it wasn't. '' ''A crack of thunder sounded, despite there being no forecast for rain, or a single cloud to be spotted in the starry skies. The gentle breeze picked up into an angered whirlwind, swirling violently about. A bright glowing line was cut into thin air, which parted to create a momentary gateway... A portal. So to say. '' ''From this portal waddles out a few.. Rather confused little creatures. Setting foot on foreign soil. At first, there were only two.. But two turned into ten.. which turned into several hundred. All flowing out of this gateway before it threatened to close. All a bit antsy and excited to be in this new.. Strange world.. ''Participants'' (As this IS somewhat of a side-story, not all of the MF members will be involved at this time. Those listed are the ones that will be mainly participating.) '' *Saren-can't-remember-whole-username'' **''Mars'' *''Classicspace101'' **''Isaac'' *''DeathstroketheHedgehog'' **''Summer''Summer the Fox *''Silverknight01 (Host)'' **''Zazzy'' *''Trisell Chronos (overseer)'' {MULTIFORCE HOMEPAGE} RULES OF PARTICIPATION New Members *Anyone can request to have their character as part of the MultiForce, but the MultiForce members are not required to accept all entries. *New characters CANNOT be based in a universe separate from the Sonic the Hedgehog universe. They cannot conflict with the general content and rules of the Sonic lore. Characters CAN be seperate from the Sonic Verse when submitted, but if they are to be accepted, they MUST '''be converted into a format that does not conflict with the Sonic verse. Roleplay Activity *Roleplays are not to involve more than 4 users at a time unless dealing with a SUPER-ROLEPLAY that requires all MultiForce members. This can only be changed if the roleplay host feels they can manage more than 4 members at a time. *Roleplay participants will be decided upon by the MultiForce group based on how often they have already participated/their characters have already participated, the reasoning for why the character(s) would be involved, preference of involvement by the roleplay host, and the user's track-record in roleplay integrity. *All users who agree to take part in MultiForce roleplays '''MUST '''reply at least once per day. The only exceptions are if they have to wait for another user to reply before they can and/or if there is an acceptable reason for their delay presented. Otherwise, after one day--the latest limit being two days--their turn will be skipped until they return. Users are expected to explain themselves after a delay. *All characters '''MUST have profiles to use as references, and are expected to consider MultiForce content as canon to some form of continuity they hold, as that is how the other members will. *All members will take turns in roleplays: one reply per turn. These replies can use up to every character the user is controlling. Any double replies that are not a result of skipping delayed users will be ignored and removed, and the users notified. *Characters who plan to or do demonstrate something not described in their profile are advised to speak to the roleplay host and roleplay overseer to gain permission. Otherwise, these actions may be called out and made null depending on their effectiveness. Roleplay Host/Roleplay Overseer Requirements *Roleplay hosts will be decided upon by MultiForce group discussion, as will which roleplays are to be considered canon or not. *The roleplay host is required to have a PLANNED outline of the roleplay from start to finish, including the amount of linearity or non-linearity in the plot. *The outline of each roleplay is to be sent to whichever roleplay overseer is available. *The roleplay overseer is responsible in aiding the roleplay host in making certain the roleplay goes as planned. They are both responsible for keeping track of events and calling out any rule-breaking. *Both the roleplay overseer and roleplay host may use BOLD AND UNDERLINED LETTERING TO INDICATE WHERE THEY WANT THE ROLEPLAY TO GO IN ITS PROGRESSION. This will come in the form of blatant instruction or hints to help users progress without falling out of the roleplay's plot. *The roleplay host is responsible for summarizing and posting the roleplay's plot in the "Chronological Adventures" section of the homepage. They may ask for the assistance of the roleplay overseer. *The roleplay host is required to post the following (in the following order) at the start of each roleplay. **The title of the roleplay along with the precise wording "MultiForce RP -" in the beginning of the title. **An introduction to the roleplay giving us a brief plot beginning to show what is occuring in the start of the roleplay story. **The copy-pasted rules of the MultiForce homepage. **A list of the users taking part in the roleplay with their characters used in the roleplay put next to their usernames. **The "ROLEPLAY START" header to indicate where the first replies should go. Additionally, if the roleplay host has preferences as to who should reply first, they should indicate that here. ''(Act 1) "Little Help, Please." 'The scene begins within the Multiforce base.' The zappy feline, Zazzy, happened to be rummaging about the cafeteria on Deck 7. It was a liiiiittle early for lunch, and a liiiiiittle late for breakfast. So it seemed she would be opting for brunch. Undecided if she would like to make her own food, or have the cool AI chef fix something for her.. She, along with a couple other members of the gang, had been up most of the night watching oldie horror movies.. Which would explain the feline's uncanny lateness to breakfast.. Now as for what the rest of the present members were up to, and where they might be.. ''(Roleplay Start) For the most part, Mars had been clinging to Isaac on the couch as he hated horror and he was legitimately the closest thing there he could cling onto all night.. Yes he was not a fan of Isaac but the threat of those creepy space aliens coming to probe his brain was much worse than Isaac.. Suffice to say he was still sleeping on the couch, with blankets sprawled all over him like a cat had just mauled the sheets. Isaac had actually passed out during the movie snoozing away. "Zzzzzz" he snored softly as he dreampt of whatever sunbros dream of he softly clung to mars as well as if he were a plush Mars. The starfox known as Summer was on top of the base as usual. She usually tends to be there to have a moment to bask in the sunlight whenever the skies were clear, and she also takes this moment to secretly eavesdrop on people occasionally. A bit of time had passed before Zazzy returned to last night's movie mess. The room littered with wrappers and popcorn kernels.. She came carefully tiptoeing across the floor in her emoji pajamas, bearing in her arms a big tray of french toast. The feline having to kick a bunch of junk off a tabletop so she could set down the tray.. "Pzzzzzzt.." She whispered loudly. Peering over to the makeshift pallets Mars and Isaac still slept upon. "Hey you dudes hungry?" Mars groaned, rolling around a bit with a bit of a sulky expression. "Mmmmmgh, its too eeeeearlyyyyy.." He grumbled, he had only recently went to sleep two hours ago actually. "Food...?" Isaac said slowly waking up smelling french toast. He wore his sunbro sleeping robes with a snugi on top. Summer rubbed her eyes for a moment, sitting up and letting her eyes take a beautiful view of the scenery. It wouldn't be long after this before she eventually picks up the smell of breakfast. "Aw.. I know it is.. " Zazzy sighed a bit, biting her lower lip. Briefly offering up a few gentle pats on the dire wolf's messy head. "And yes, foods. Mr. AI chef guy is pretty quick." She smiled, gesturing to the coffee table over yonder. Mars did appreciate the pats, its nice to know that someone else sympathized with his now screwed up sleeping schedule as he slowly began the process of untangling himself from Isaac and ordering a glass of Milk with a small amount of honey stirred in after just sitting down on the coffee table. "Mmm.. Last time I do that again.." Mars mumbled, his fur was sticking up all over the place, with small tufts of it missing due to natural static cling pulling off small bits that stuck into Isaac's armor.. Along with all of the shed fur he naturally goes through, which might result in a mild to moderate electrical shock for Isaac dependent on the amount of fur that had actually managed to sink into the gaps in the plate armor Isaac wore. Isaac woke up and sat up, the fur stuck to his sunbro snugie and robe. His helmet though still gave him lightning protection as he woke up and picked off the tuffs of fur. "Morning Zazzy." He said cheerfully before turning to mars. "Mars, ya gotta do something about the shedding." He says as he began brushing off the fur. A moment later, Summer had appeared at the entrance of the base, floating in because of the smell of breakfast. She was actually able to sleep rather fine after watching the movie.... and this was not because she fell asleep through the movie. "...Morning, everyone," she greets. "I see everyone is finally awake now." Zazzy cat waved briefly to the sunfox. "G'morning." She returned the greeting. "You were up early?" The french toast could be found neatly topped with strawberries and a bit of whipped cream. Set over several individual plates that sat on that tray.. Awaiting consumption. The room now smelt pleasantly of butter and vanilla. Now, Mars wasn't one for manners.. Especially when running on two hours of sleep, so with nary a word he reached for some french toast and piled about two strips and some whipped cream along worth syrup onto his plate before cutting off a piece and chewing on the toast. Isaac took the plate. "Thank you Zaz." He says before getting a fork and his sword and began eating. "DANG! This is amazing." He says happily as he ate. For context, Rin had left a notice that she was away doing Rin-things and would be back later to avoid plotholes. ' '~Urd ''' "I was up when the sun rose," Summer answered. "... which, even I'll admit, is a rather early for me." She eventually made her way over to the room to clean up yesterday's night's mess, hoping that there will actually be breakfast by the time she finishes. "Thank you in advance for the breakfast," She remembers to tell the zappy-cat. "Hey, no sweat. Literally." Zaz cat paused, noticing the fox as she moved to tidy up the room. "Aw Summer, you don't have to worry about that.. I can get it." ''Near the firefox, a slight buzzing could be felt. A rhythmic pulsing that came emanating from underneath a decorative couch pillow. Which appeared to have been casually tossed to the floor.'' Mars finally finished his breakfast, having actually zoned out for a good four minutes before actually slipping back awake when his head accidentally smashed against the table, having the unintended result of spilling some maple syrup on him. "I regret staying up late last night.. I really do..." He half whined half mumbled incoherently to himself, as it was garbled with mumblespeak and poor enunciation of certain words. Isaac gave Mars a pat on the back as he finished breakfast. "Drink some coffee." He says as he helps clean up, he would then lift up the pillow to put it back on the couch. Summer took a quick glance to Zazzy. "Too late, already started," she smirked as she continued cleaning. "... Old habit of mine to clean before eating." As the fox went back to cleaning, she noticeably froze for a moment as her ear twitched. Looking towards the couch, she lifted up the pillow to see what was causing the sound. "...Wouldn't coffee just make things worse?" Zazzy blinked, moving to help Summer out with her cleanings.. Not arguing with the vixen's habits, as she had some pretty strange ones herself. Summer would discover a touch phone. Sitting in a pretty girly/glittery case that smelt vaguely of potato chips. Seems someone tagged as "Mama J" was trying to call. Due to it being silenced, it had been stuck on vibrate for notifications n' everything else. Mars stared at the two for a few brief moments, before plopping back to sleep as his eyes just physically would not open anymore. Isaac continued to clean as he put stuff in a trash bag. "Nah, coffee makes everything better. It keeps me awake when I am doing things." He says. "In fact, i have been trying to create a special kind of coffee that allows for someone to be awake 24/7!" He then says cheerfully. "Mahdi is helping." Summer bounced off of the couch as if she was in low gravity, landing in front of Zazzy. Of course, Summer had assumed the phone to be Zaz's due to the girly case and the smell of snacks. "Does this belong to you?" she asked. "Someone has been calling." Zazzy looked like she was about to make a comment on Isaac's ludicrous beverage, but was cut short by the vixen. Her face lighting up as she peered at the screen. "Ohheeey.. Iz' my mumzie that's calling." She smiled, nabbing the phone from Summer to answer it. Quietly mouthing the words 'T h a n k y o u' to Summer as she held the device up to her ear. "Hiya Mama~" Within a few minutes, that perky smile turned into a bit of a worried frown. A few strings of conversation slipping out from time to time.. "..What? You aren't hurt, right?" '' ''"Um." "Yeeeeah. Gimmie one sec." Zaz cat murmured, glancing over at the littered coffee table for a split second, then to the television. The feline suddenly moving from her spot to start searching around the blankets n' junk for something. Momentarily removing the phone from her ear to loudly whisper to the rest of the group. "TV remote? Anyoneknowwhereitis?" Mars peeked his head up. "Last place I remember was it being underneath my belly, not sure where it is otherwise since I woke up hugging Isaac..." Mars mumbled before plopping down on his face again. Isaac sighed as he patted Mars's belly and the remote fell out of his floofy fur. "Found it." He says handing it to Zazzy. "Is there something we need from the TV?" Summer questioned, then gave out a hypothesis. "Something on the news?" Zaz did a wince, then a nod. "Mhm. Got it right here.." She spoke into the phone, ''turning to whisper out a "Thanks again.." After turning the tv on and some searching, she came to a halt on some local news channel called ''"Washington Times." A whole barrage of information coming at the group all at once. The headlines titled.."Flash Thieves on the Loose!" Reporters all declaring that the sweet lidl' city of Washington had been struck by a sudden spike in crime.. Cars had been hijacked, underwear missing from clotheslines, whole storefronts were relieved of its possessions. No one was safe on the streets, so one reporter claimed. Store camera footage reveal nothing much. But the occasional small black shape waddling in the darkness. The news now switching to a few interviews. One such store owner was an older feline, her hair beginning to grey with age. She had some suspiciously similar features to that of the resident zappy cat.. Especially those bright gold eyes. "Yep. I see it.. I'll uh.. call you back." Zazzy sighed, hanging up on her cell. "Welp.. Isn't this a pickle?" She remarked, surveying the news. "... Is it me, or am I not the only one seeing weird shadows on the screen?" Summer asked as she watched the TV, unsure if the TV was damaged or not. "Weird shadows? What do you mean?" Mars asked, now that he had finally perked up and ran some caffeine into his system. "It looks kinda blurry to me.." He mumbled, his eyes were still strained from only two hours of sleep and this certain things came out like a blur to him as he just kept rubbing his eyes. "Do we have phantom thieves, and why does one of the people on the news look like you Zazzy?" Isaac watched the television. "Looks like a couple of kids just stealing random things." Isaac said as he watched and threw away the last if the trash. "But I will ask why one does look similar to you Zazz." "Oh! That's my mom, June." Zazzy explained as the older woman on the tv answered a few questions that were thrown out at her. "And yeeeeah. You're not the only one, Summer." She confirmed. Tapping her bare foot rhythmically to the floor as she thought aloud. "I'm gonna have to head off to town. My mum's store was hit by this swiper-fest, plus it's where I grew up. Y'know? Hard to sit by and let this go down." "Why don't we all make like Scooby Doo and go solve this mystery together!?" Mars grinned excitedly, as he suddenly retrieved a Sherlock Holmes hat, a monocle and a fake tobacco pipe that blows bubble.. All while singing The Scooby Doo song. Isaac sighed and laughed a little. "Dont worry Zazz. We shall assist in helping solve this crime." He then said as he put on a bowler hat on top of his helmet "... It would be nice to see your hometown," the sunfox smiled. "Besides, we're not exactly doing much else right now... speaking of which..." Summer flooooo o o o a t s away to the kitchen to get something quick to eat. "YES! WHERE IS MY MUSTACHIO!?" The feline squealed at the thought of mystery solving. Practically dancing on the end of her toes. "Ok! I need to go grab my bag and get dressed.." Zazzy paused, observing Mars' disheveled fur and Isaac's robe. "YOU need to get dressed too!" She remarked, tapping her chin. "We'llallmeetupattheteleporterswhenwe'redone,'kay?" Zazzy jabbered with a smile, zipping off to her room before anyone could answer her.. Leaving the others to go and gear up. Zazzy would be anxiously waiting at one of the outer teleporters once they were done. Her thumbs rapidly moving to text several dozen messages on her cell. "... Does this mean I can't get my breakfast?" Summer stated out loud, a playful pout on her face as she decided on simply grabbing an apple before making her way to the room to dress up and meet with the cat. Mars noted his fur, and zipped off to the bathroom in order to groom himself to what he seemed as presentable levels.. Now, seeing as one of the others had probably grilled it into him how appearance mattered through the fury of the Chancletas.. He took good care to maintain his appearance, taking about thirty minutes given the amount of fur he has. When he returned to the teleporters, he had dressed himself up much like Shaggy from the Scooby Doo Cartoon with the short sleeved olive green shirt and brown pants, somehow matching the scruff on his chin too. "Like, let's get this on~!" Isaac walked in wearing his usual sunbro attire along with a claymore on his back and a crest shield in his hand. "Mars, you would make a better Scooby instead of Shaggy " he said chuckling. Whenever Summer arrived, Zazzy tossed a little ziplock baggie of some kind of snack to her before the feline moved to round everyone up. "We don't have a scotty to beam us down so.. I'ma just pretend I am.." She giggled a bit at the thought.. The small yet hearty group was then warped down at the edge of town. A cozy looking sign stood beside the asphalt road that read.. "Welcome to Washington." The most immediate thing that one could observe from here was the group of police vehicles parked further down the city block. From out here, the city appeared to be a liiiiittle on the quiet side. '' Zazzy cat had her hands on her hips. "Maaaaaaybe it's not all that bad?" She said optimistically. Of course, Summer didn't think twice about seeing the cop cars. "We visited on a bad day, is all," was what came out of her mouth before she plopped a snack into her mouth. "Police vehicles are bad. But at least there are no swat vans or anything of the sorts." Isaac said as he began walking. Mars blinked, still laughing at Zazzy's beam me up Scottie reference as he understood the reference quite well, even though he was more of a Jane Galloway fan than a Kirk fan, but hey, Trekkies tend to unite in their love for Star Trek. Aside from all that fun stuff, Mars sorta wiggles around, stretching his legs happily and breathing in the crisp fresh air with a wide grin on his face. With a bit of a determined nod, Zazzy started with a skip down the road to see what all the fuss was about. "My mom's store is up here.." As they approached the group of police, several different citizens could be seen discussing matters with the present officers, some of which were taking notes on a pad of paper. The older feline, whom they had previously seen on TV, was indeed among these folks. The woman almost immediately taking notice of the incoming gang. Her face dimpling with a warm, motherly smile. "Zaz, honey, hi." She greeted, stepping out from the small group she'd been previously standing in to come and give her daughter a quick hug. Zazzy giving her mum a bit of a squeeze before she pulled away to introduce her to the rest. "Friends, this is June." She gestured briefly, moving to then point out different MF members to her mother. "Mom, that's Isaac, Mars, and Summer." The sunfox gave a calm and polite wave. "It's a pleasure to meet you, June," she smiled. "Sorry that you have to deal with this whole 'shopping' spree." Mars gave his usual trademark grin and happy wave. "Hoya! I'm Mars! It's nice to meet you!" He all but shouted, having bounced back from his tiredness relatively quickly. "Hello Madam, I am Isaac." Isaac says doing a quick knightly bow. He smiled as he offered to shake her hand. "It's quite alright. It could have happened to anyone." June sighed with a bit of a smile, turning to gently wave to Mars, then reached to shake Isaac's hand. "Isaac, or should I be calling you ''Sir Isaac?" The woman genuinely asked, seeming to take interest in the knight-ish armor. Zazzy could be seen slowly scooting away, standing on her tippy toes to squint down the street. Mars noted that she was scooting away and decided to follow after the Zazcat, thankfully not saying anything that might give away what she might be doing. "Just call me Isaac, I normally dont use the titles." Isaac says smiling. "It is a pleasure to meet you madam." Noticing the two zappy friends walking away, and seeing that June was busy talking to Isaac, Summer took a quick thermal scan of the nearby buildings, seeing if she could get a shape of those odd shadow things that she thought she has saw on TV earlier. Summer could, of course, see the heat signatures of her friends. Along with the shapes of the officers and a few folks wandering about within the buildings. But there was no sign or indication of some shadow critter roaming about. "...Man my mama's shop is just down the road there. I can't really make out much." Zaz murmured as Mars joined her, the feline clearly antsy to go check the place out. "Ah. Isaac it is then.. Such nice manners." The older feline keenly observed her daughter edging away from the group. "Oh goodness me, I'm probably holding you up here.." June laughed a bit, motioning for the rest of the gang to follow her down the road to her shop.. With Zazzy already zipping down the lane as soon as she was given the clear to go. "Heh, well people may say chivalry is dead, but I beg to differ. Anyways so Madam June, perhaps later we should all get lunch together when this is all settled. It would be very nice to get to know you more." Isaac would say smiling at Zazzy's mother. Mars actually stopped to stare at Isaac for a few seconds, even facepalming and giving him a 'dude what the f--k' look on his face as he assumed Isaac was essentially hitting on a married woman.. Something that was definitely a social taboo really.. But, he didn't spare a comment on it and just returned to following after Zazzy. Summer followed alongside June, unsure if she was supposed to catch up to Zazzy and leave her mother behind. Unable to find any trace of the creatures, she turned towards June and asked, "Is there anything you can tell us about these odd thieves?" Zazzy arrived at the shop called '''Junebug's Spree.' ''It looked like it could have been a rather nice-looking boutique.. If it weren't for the fact that it was pretty much bone-dry empty on the inside. "Well color me purple." Zaz remarked. "Did they seriously take everything??!" She yelled down the street to her mother. June looked a bit overwhelmed by the number of conversations that were run by her at one time. With a deep breath though, she turned to systematically answer them all. Responding to Isaac first with a quiet.. "Pfft. Don't worry hun. I've got lunch covered. I'll be making my special sandwiches for ya." Then the woman cleared her throat to call back to her daughter.. "Pretty much so, sweetie!" Finally, she turned to Summer with a short sigh and smile. "Weird little buggers. I managed to snatch one up in my shop. Would be happy to show him.. her.. er. It?" June chuckled, drawing out a set of keys from her purse to unlock her shop's door once the group had arrived. Holding the door open as she gestured for the group to come on in. ..The powder-blue interior of the store was, Well, As previously mentioned, bare. Aside from the occasional clothes rack or the cashier desk that sat to the side of the room, the place had been swept clean. The first thing one might notice was the glass-lidded cookie jar resting on the top of the desk. The lid had been taped shut to contain a little black ball of something shuffling around inside.. Mars actually waddled towards the cookie jar, leaning in real close in order to get a better examination of whatever this little black ball inside of it could be.. Assuming it was one of thise clear glass cookie jars. Isaac chuckled as he entered. "I cannot wait to try them Madam June." Isaac says as he enters, then looks at the black ball. "Hmm, that's new." He would day tapping the glass a little. Summer tried to find room between the others to take a peek at the creature herself, "... so this is the.. culprit?" the bewildered fox asked. "... what is it even?" Zazzy grinned at the sight a bit.. " 'Daw but.. He's kinda cute.." The little dark ball shifted within its prison, two little round eyes blinking at the folks as it munched on the candy inside. Completely unconcerned with all the people about it, or with the fact that it was trapped. "Yeah.. Pretty much so! Thing is there's definitely more of them." June responded, crossing her arms over her chest. "Waaaaay more." Mars blinked, staring at the container for a few seconds before tapping on the glass lightly a few times. "... aww.. I want to keep it," Summer accidentally said out loud, looking around awkwardly and clearing her throat. "ssssoooo... any ideas where to look, or places you've already searched?" "Perhaps we could ask it?" Isaac says tapping on the glass again. "Well if he can talk." "Well. The most I can tell you is that they seem to really like food.. Aside from that there doesn't seem to be a reason or rhyme for what they've been swiping.. Or where they're keeping it for that matter!" June sighed. The little creature mimicked everyone's tappings. Patting the inside of the glass with its little nubby hand as candy disappeared into the space between its eyes.. There was no mouth as anyone could see. "Soooo.. Could we set up a trap maybe?" Zazzy thought out loud. "... they like food. A simple food trap would work... but if they're this small and robbed the entire neighborhood, we're going to need to think a lot bigger." '''said the Summer. Mars blinked, what could be bigger than food. "... Why don't we use this little guy as our control, find big things and see if he likes them..? o3o" "Brilliant! Perhaps we could also figure out what can containe them, cause i dout we have a cookie Jar big enough." Isaac says watching the little thing. "That's true.." Zaz nodded thoughtfully. "Is there any way we can figure out their numbers before we go trapping them?" "Well.. Those officers outside might be a great place to start if you're trying to figure out numbers.." Mrs. Mace responded promptly. "Indeed!" Mars let out a wild grin as he basically just zipped off in the direction of the officers with a happy grin, one mystery is afoot Summer gives a small nod to June. "We will find a way to fix this, Mrs. Mace," Summer declared before following behind the green wolf. "Yes, we shall, i promise you we will fix this and restore your shop to its former glory." Isaac says cheerfully preforming a knightly salute to June. Zaz was last to leave the shop, pausing briefly to peck a little kiss on her mother's cheek."I got my phone.. I'll text ya' soon mum." She waved before she went zipping out of the shop. Leaving Mrs. Mace and that little creature all by their lonesome. Up ahead the group could spy those very same officers chilling out on a road called Saint Bard's Dr.' Most of these police officers were either discussing something among themselves or talking to a random citizen. One particularly odd man was standing inside a cardboard box that came up to his chest and juuust above his knees. He didn't seem particularly happy. Like. At all.. Mars spotted the man, and the hilarity of the man's plight was so intense that the moment Mars saw what he was wearing and his expression he just suddenly dropped to the floor with such uproarious laughter that one could mistake it for shrieks moxed in with having a heart attack were he not rolling around so much. Isaac would turn to the man. "I shall speak with you later Madam June." Isaac says walking over to the man. "Excuse me sir, are you ok?" Summer took one look at the man, then one look to Mars on the ground, then back to the man as she bit her lower lip and try not to laugh tried to get Mars to calm down and get off the floor. The man lifted his chin slightly to Isaac as he approached. Trying his best to ignore the ongoing fit of laughter just beyond the knight. "I am perfectly fine! I should be asking you lot the same question." He said, maintaining a certain voice of authority as he spoke. Pulling that cardboard box upward to prevent it from falling off his likely bare frame. "Have you folks been affected by those.. ''things?" "AAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAAA!!!" Mars couldn't help it, this particular scene was drawn out and funny as heck.. Didn't help that box man was probably bare.. which meant that no matter how angry he got Mars would continue to laugh. Summer, out of options, pretty much tried to cover the wolf's mouth as she tried to speak over his laughter. "No sir, we're actually come to see if we could try to fix the problem... do you know anything about them?" Isaac would hand the man a pair of pants from his bottomless box. "True. We are gonna fix this all." Isaac says, he was laughing inside but stayed serious on the outside. The man quirked a brow at Isaac's offering. Accepting it after a short second of brief hesitation. "Er.. How kind of you.." Zazzy could only manage a very puffy-looking frown. Like she was trying to keep a volcano from erupting. "Aww.. Mr. Duncan! Your uniform!" She remarked.. The strain in her voice was terribly apparent. She wanted to giggle, and yet, she also didn't want to add another chip to the man's already bruised pride. "Yeeees." Mr. Duncan sighed, pulling the box up once again to keep it from falling off. "Those nutto alien things blind-sighted me and well.. I think you can figure out the rest." After he had managed to shimmy that pair of pants on from under the box, the man looked to Summer. "Right now my squad is callin' em shifters. We've tried on multiple occasions to catch them but uh.. Those buggers are sneaky. And pliable! Like a stay-puff marshmallow. " Summer took moment to ponder this. "Is there a reason you could think of that these 'shifters' um... y'know..." she trails off, referring Duncan's outfit. Eventually Mars stopped laughing, with the occasional giggling. "Shifters eh.. Well, they seem to like shiny things.. Or anything really..? Do we have a bronze statue of Washington to bait them with?" "I actually have a few golden coins in my box." Isaac says cheerfully. "In my world they are good luck charms." He then says. "Er.. At the moment there seems to be no reason or rhyme to their thieving.. They just kinda see it and want it.. And yes. We have a statue... I think. Not sure if it's still there with the rate of stealing that's been going on." Mr. Duncan replied.. Hesitating for a brief second. "Anyone have a belt I can use? This uh.. Pair of pants is a bit big on me." Zazzy promptly waved her hand frantically about in the air. "Oh! I don't have a belt buuuuut.." She paused, pulling a long and wide ribbon from her satchel.. Skipping over to Duncan to hand him the fabric. "I have this!" The man frowned at the glittery sparkles but accepted it regardless. "Thanks.. This'll do." "I have an idea, infact.. Hey Zazzy, you holding the cookie jar containing the tiny creature or did we leave it..?" Mars asked. "Since we have one captured, we could use it to get an idea of what the others like.. That and it's kinda cute." "Brilliant." Isaac said . "And then we can find out how to subdue them and find out where they came from." Isaac would then say cheerfully Hearing Mars's plan, Summer seemed to nod in agreement."It's better than nothing, and 'nothing' is all I got," she responds. ".. But the creature is back with Zazzy's mother, however." The zappy feline covered her mouth. "Oop! I'm so sorry. Was I supposed to bring it? I can go fetch 'em.." Zaz offered. Mr. Duncan cleared his throat as he finally fixed his britches. "If you need a place to start looking.. I'd suggest you try that alleyway there." He gestured dead ahead to a wide alley that ran between two shops. "That's where they ran off with my.. Er. Uniform." "Nono, it's fine," the sunfox answers to Zazzy while simultaneously backing up. "I can catch up, you guys can go ahead." Isaac would shrug. "I will invesitgate the allyway." He says walking towards said allyways to investigate, he had his shield ready. Mars nodded. "I shall go along too! I even brought snacks to bait these creatures!" The wolf grinned, holding out a box of Scooby Snacks as he went along with Isaac. ..Not wanting to be left out of the cool-group splitting thing.. Zazzy ended up tagging along with Summer. Partially to have a boy and girl team, but also because of a lidl' bit of guilt for being so forgetful... ''The group has now split into two.'' (Act 1.5) "Into The Alleyway, Boys." The alleyway that Mr. Duncan had pointed to was particularly dark and spooky-like. The tall buildings it ran through obscured a lot of the sunlight that tried to flow in.. From the entrance. There really wasn't much to see. Aside from a closed blue dumpster and a couple of cardboard boxes here n' there. Isaac would use his sun stone to light up the alleyway a bit so it would be easier to see. "So, I wonder where they came from?" Isaac would ask his smol fuzzy friend. "They came from the voooooiiiiiid." Mars whispered in a hush hush tone, specifically referencing two things.. One, a purported blob of eldritch nothing that was commonly seen hanging around a Bunny Named Masuko and Two, an old movie trailer he saw on V-Tube once. Mars' voice dramatically echoed down the alley. With the addition of Isaac's sunstone, it was easy to see that this alley split off into several smaller branches up ahead. Acting as some form of private backpasses around the nooks n' crannies of the city's buildings. Mars smiled. "I'll take the right pathways, you take the left!" Mars said with a grin before he zipped off to the right branches, conveniently not giving Isaac time to get a word in edgewise before he lept into 'danger'. "Mars..." Isaac said before sighing as he would also begin to walk through the left passageways. "Darn Mars, always rushing..." he mumbled ..Mars would find the right branch to be fairly straightforward.. and a twinge bit dirty. There were only a few paths, all of which ended up funneling out to a main road or city square. Nothing much of interest.. Aside from knowing how these critters get around town.. ..Isaac on the other hand, would be confronted with an almost labyrinth-like number of pathways. The one he was currently on split off into two different turns.. One straight ahead, the other taking a curve to the left. (Act 1.5) "Investigations With The Girls." The sunfox and zapcat would enter back into the shop to find the puzzled Mrs. Mace.. Along with the now- empty candy jar that now rested in her hands. Summer gazed at the jar for a second, not trying to ask a question that was... well, pretty obvious. After a few more seconds, Summer then glanced to Mrs. Mace. "There are cameras... right?" "Er. There ''used''' to be one." June frowned, holding the jar up closer to her face. Aside from the jar's newfound emptiness. The clear tape the woman had used on and around the lid had been pushed around near the lip of the container. "Wha? That little fat marshmallow just.. Slipped out?" Zazzy quirked a brow, her arms crossing a bit over her chest. "Are they kinda like those octopuses you see on the internet?" "... well now I ''really want one of these as a pet," Summer noted, eyeing the jar very closely to see if there were any traces of anything that can be used to visually track the creature. ..Aside from the slippery-looking dark stuff that gathered between the jar and its lid.. There wasn't really a lot of evidence. "On the bright side of things, we know that whatever we trap them in will have to be sealed shut." Zaz brightened a bit, her index finger in the air as she spoke. "Oh.. Where's the boys?" June blinked as she eyed the door Summer took a quick whiff of the jar for a moment, just to see if the creatures had a certain scent she could trace. "From what I've heard from the knight, they were going to check for clues in the alleyway," she replies. "But these 'shifters' seem to leave no trace of evidence." Summer took the moment to think of an idea. "Is there any seal tight boxes we can use should we come across another?"